The benefits of making hospital patients ambulatory as soon as possible have been documented for some time. The benefits include a shorter post operative recovery and shorter hospital stay. However, due to the limitations of existing equipment it is impracticable for many patients to freely move about. For example, in the case of a patient having a newly-fitted leg-prothesis it may be dangerous for the patient to attempt to move about with existing walkers because of the unnatural gait and resulting unbalance that is produced by lifting and moving the walker frame. Similarly, for patients who must continuously receive intravenous (IV) solutions, there is no current IV stand which can be safely moved along with the patient without danger of upsetting the stand or causing the patient to trip and fall. Present stands have a relatively narrow base, small diameter casters and incorporate a vertical pole with no grip at which the patient may grasp the stand. It has been determined that a patient normally grasps a vertical support at or near chest height. Thus, in moving the stand while attempting to walk, the patient exerts a horizontal force on the stand which has the effect of a long lever arm operating around the relatively narrow base. The possibility of upset is especially great if the castered wheels run into an obstruction or if they are pushed along a carpet. For the same reason, if the patient stumbles slightly and exerts an extra force on the stand, the stand may fall. Even if the stand does not fall the patient will not be able to lean against the tipping stand for the additional support that would permit him to recover. To counteract the upsetting tendency, some patients will attempt to move closer to the vertical support of the stand but in doing so they increase the likelihood that they will trip on a leg of the base. Accordingly, for many otherwise ambulatory patients, there is no safe way for them to move about alone. Under these circumstances they either must be assisted by a nurse or other hospital assistant (with the obvious increase in the hospital costs) or must be confined to bed.
It is therefore desirable to provide an ambulatory patient support stand which has reduced tendency to tip over when pushed by the patient, and which provides support to the patient should the patient trip while walking.